We perform a simulation using the linearly increasing gap between the plates \(b = 1 + t\)  for different values of \(\sigma \) . When \(\sigma = 10^{-4}\)  (row one of fig:LiftingPlates), we find that the interface quickly destabilises and approximately 15 fingers develop by \(t = 1\) . As time increases further, neighbouring fingers begin to merge with each other and the overall number of fingers significantly decreases, and we find only around five fingers remain by the conclusion of the simulation. For the lower value of surface tension \(\sigma = 5 \times 10^{-5}\)  (row two of fig:LiftingPlates), we find the number of fingers that initially develop has increased compared to when \(\sigma = 10^{-4}\) , about 25 at \(t = 1\) . However as the interface contracts, again fingers begin to merge and only 8 fingers remain at \(t = 4\) . We perform these simulations over a longer time period (not shown) which reveals that the interface will become circular when the gap between the plates is sufficiently large. This behaviour is consistent both with previous experimental and numerical results [1]}, [2]}, [3]}.
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